Another argument for early education

Puberty worsens children's learning abilities. Unfortunately, our education system was created over a hundred years ago, when kids, on average, reached puberty later in their lives, and very few of them could afford high school. As a result of changes in human biology and culture, we've got schools that teach languages and science (which, arguably, is just another language) at the worst possible time: during last years of junior high and first years of high school.

When children hit puberty, their ability to learn a second language drops, they find it harder to learn their way around a new location and they are worse at detecting errors in cognitive tests.

Why is this? Sheryl Smith and her colleagues at the State University of New York now reckon that all of these behavioural changes could be due to a temporary increase in a chemical receptor that inhibits brain activity in an area responsible for learning.

On the other hand, teenage boys learn very quickly how to play complex computer games. It's quite possible that the academic learning model doesn't fit their natural learning abilities.

tags: biology, education, information, system, constraint, trend, biology, information